We fenced our 5 acres based on our title and deed description

Customer Question

We fenced our 5 acres based on our title and deed description 22 years ago. Now the neighbor (state school district) who bought the property next door about 16 years ago is surveying to have the land sub divided into 5 acre parcels. Their surveyors have entered our property without permission and staked a new fence line about 6 feet into our property. We are being informed that the County may have had a "short section" . Would like to know what we need to do to avoid a dispute. They bought the land next door with our fence in place and nothing was ever questioned at their time of purchase. We have a substantial wood fence in place and all of our buildings are set back to code based on our fence line. We live in the state of Washington.

If you haven't done this, you may want to do that in order to see exactly what you're dealing with and how much land you're fighting over.......it could be that the school district's property survey is off a bit, etc.....and if you get your own, you can compare the two.If your fence is in fact in the wrong place/off of the property line, you may have a claim against the school district for adverse possession. Washington State courts have provided: “Adverse possession does not run against a governmental body holding land for public purposes…However, if land is held by a governmental body in its proprietary, as opposed to governmental capacity, the land is subject to being acquired by adverse possession the same as if owned by a private individual… where land owned by a county is “never devoted to any use, public or otherwise . . . [the land] was held in a proprietary capacity and subject to adverse possession the same as if owned by a private individual.” Kesinger v. Logan: 51 Wn. App. 914; 756 P.2d 752 (1988).Thus, you may have a claim that you've adversely possessed the property IF you can prove that the land is not being used for public purposes.